Do I need an ABA tutor yet?Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/06/2009 - 12:46 |
Hello all, my name is steve and my son has recently been diagnosed with an ASD - moderately on the scale, he is now 3 1/2 and is in a mainstream pre-school with a 1-2-1 nursery nurse with life experience but no ABA qualification 3 days a week.
I've read through some of the blogs and articles on here and elsewhere and am still left wondering if my son is too young to start an ABA programme / tutor and would like more advice.
We are also still debating whether to send him to mainstream or special school once statemented.
We are in the southampton area and would welcome any advice from a tutor.
email is betto5@live.co.uk
Thank you in advance
Hi Steve, I'm a parent not a
Hi Steve,
I'm a parent not a tutor but I would say that I am certain your son is not too young - all the research on behvioural interventions in ASD indicate that the younger you start the better! My son is 2 and half and we are setting up his programme now. We know children who have started at 2 who have benefitted enormously and been able to enter mainstream school at 4. So i would say get going now.
Jo
Thanks for the advice Jo, we
Thanks for the advice Jo, we didnt get a diagnosis until he was practically 3 so not able to get going as quickly as would have liked ! Now I've got to go through tribunal to get funding for the ABA programme which will take even longer !
Hi. I've got an ASD son
Hi.
I've got an ASD son diagnosed when he was 3. He's now 3.5 and we're 4 months on the way into our program.
My son had some more severe traits (lack of speech, social interactions) and some bright spots (generally intelligent, good with puzzles , quick to pick up things he wanted to pick up!)
I can't reccomend it enough. If we'd had a diagnosis earlier I would have done it earlier.
All I can say is try it! If it doesn't work out you've not lost much. However the earlier you can intervene the better.
My goal is to get my son into a normal school when he's 5. My son has progressed amazingly well he's now resonably verbal, has picked up many new skills, makes great eye contact.
Drop me a line if you want any more advice (justinlistnospam@me.com) obviously get rid of the nospam bit!
EDIt
Also if you can , don't wait for the funding first. You need to setup the program ,demonstrate progress then apply for the funding. It's a real pain but this is the only way to suceed. We have used savings and borrowed some money to start the program. The LA will take forever to get going. Take matters into your own hands in my opinion. If you are are low income etc there are also schemes you can apply for funding like Caudwells childrens charity.
The only thing I can say is that the sooner you start the better.
Cheers
Justin